Paws
by Hyrde
Summary: Follow the misadventures of Roman, the black Belgian Shepherd, and Seth, the tabby cat with an attitude problem who struggle to raise a rambunctious puppy named Dean.
1. The Little One

The Little One

"Well, I guess that settles it," lightly barked Roman at Seth who was curled up on top of the couch, basking in the weak winter sunlight. "Seth," said Roman walking up to the couch, "Did you hear our master?"

"Oh, I heard him all right," meowed Seth haughtily as he rolled onto his back and stretched his paws toward the ceiling. "What I don't get is why does the pup have to come here. Our master has an entire clinic. Why can't the pup stay there?"

"Didn't you hear him?" muffed Roman. "The pup is only a week old. He will need around the clock care for a while."

"Humpf," scoffed Seth lazily turning back on his belly and gazing at the black, Belgian Shepherd in front of him. "It'll be a miracle if the pup survives. His mother probably threw him out of the litter because he was weak. I say let Mother Nature take its course than prolong the inevitable."

"Seth!" barked Roman outraged. "I'm surprised at you! Would you rather that our owner hadn't taken you in when you were a starving little kitten that was covered in fleas?"

"That was different," sniffed Seth unperturbed as he sat up, curling his tail in front of him and began to lick one of his front paws, "I was already weaned and had been unjustly abandoned."

"Yes, that's right, play the victim," growled Roman as he got up on the couch to look out the window to see if master had come home yet with the bundle of joy they were discussing, "It's all you ever do. God forbid you actually lift a paw to help another animal out."

Seth stopped licking himself and narrowed his eyes at Roman. Using his tail, Seth whacked Roman in the back of the head although it didn't hurt Roman anymore than if a fly had landed on his head. "I resent that," hissed Seth, "I'll have you know I've helped out many a fellow animal."

"Really?" Roman lifted an eyebrow at Seth and cocked his head. "When?"

"Many, many times," meowed Seth in a superior tone, "When you weren't looking, because when I do good things for others I don't broadcast them to the world."

"Yeah right," barked Roman not buying a single word Seth said. "You wouldn't know how to be humble if it bit you in the behind. You are the most vain cat I have ever come across and that's saying a lot."

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway halted Roman and Seth's conversation right in its tracks, as they stared curiously out the window at their owner who got out of the car holding a medium sized box that was covered with blankets. As their owner drew closer to the door, Roman jumped off the couch and ran towards the door barking excitedly and wagging his tail. Seth rolled his eyes at Roman and elected to stay right where he was. _Dogs_, he thought scathingly, _why do they have to be always so damn happy and loud all the freakin' time!_

"All right boy, relax," said their owner, Christian, to Roman who was sniffing the box intently. "Easy, easy, you're gonna scare him." Roman backed up a bit at his owner's words but still stared at the box.

Christian headed upstairs with Roman at his heels and Seth bringing up the very rear taking his sweet old time. Christian went into his room, gently placed the box on his bed, and slowly took the blankets off of it. Roman sniffed the air furiously. The scent was on one hand strange and on the other slightly familiar, but he couldn't place it. Roman took a few steps forward as his owner opened the top of the box and with gentle hands took a small bundle from the bottom and placed it carefully on the bed.

"Watch him for a minute," directed Christian to Roman as he walked quickly out of the room almost stepping on Seth who was lurking just outside the doorway. "Seth!" chided Christian, "One of these days I'm going to step on you if you aren't careful."

Seth gave his owner a dirty look that clearly communicated, _why is it my fault that you humans are so clumsy. _Christian chuckled at Seth's bold look and continued down the stairs and into the kitchen to fix a bottle of milk for the newborn pup.

"Roman I smell something funky," meowed Seth as he casually walked into the room trying to make it seem like he wasn't curious about the new addition to the household.

"It's the pup," whined Roman as he cocked his head in confusion at the wrapped bundle. "His scent is unique."

The pup was still hidden beneath the blankets and while both Seth and Roman were very interested in its contents, they were also too scared to touch it. All of a sudden, the blankets shifted a bit and a soft whimpering was barely heard beneath them.

"Shhh, it's okay little one," grumbled Roman softly trying to be comforting, "our owner is going to be back soon with some nice, warm milk for you."

The whimpering stopped for a second at the sound of Roman's voice but then it started up again and the blankets started to shift some more. Then, at the corner of one of the blankets a small pink nose pushed its way out. Roman instinctively knew that the pup was trying to get closer to him so he pushed his nose against the tiny one and got a good whiff of the pup's scent.

Taken off guard, Roman pulled back and in the process scared the little pup who instantly withdrew his nose back into the blankets. Roman's ears went up in shock as his mind processed what his nose had definitely smelled.

"Roman!" meowed Seth loudly. Roman sighed, judging by the sound of Seth's voice, he too had figured out what that strange scent was. "Is that a wolf?!"

"No," barked Roman quickly, "don't be such a drama cat, Seth. He's only half wolf."

"Oh, excuse me," meowed Seth sarcastically, "only half wolf! Is our owner mad? This creature is a wild animal. We should definitely let Mother Nature take its course or perhaps help it along a bit."

"Seth," growled Roman in warning, "Do not even think of touching that pup. Where's your compassion? This is a newborn pup. He's as harmless as a fly."

Seth snorted and leapt onto the bed but still kept a respectful distance from the puppy. "He's harmless today, but give it time. Soon this delightful, little wolfdog will soon be destroying everything in this house and turn into a one dog wrecking crew."

"He can be trained," retorted Roman.

Seth was about to reply when their owner came back and this time with a bottle in his hand.

"Come on little guy," said Christian coaxingly as he uncovered the blankets to reveal an adorable one-week-old puppy.

The puppy's eyes were still closed and would remain so for at least another week. His fur was grey and white. He was tiny but not as tiny as other puppies Roman had seen. Roman could tell now that this pup would grow up to be a pretty big dog.

Christian skillfully got the wolfdog pup to start drinking from the bottle and soon enough the little one had drunk his full. Christian gazed for a moment at Seth and Roman who had been watching him quietly attend to the little pup the entire time he had been feeding him.

"His name is Dean," said Christian quietly introducing Seth and Roman to the puppy, "and he's going to be a part of our little family."

All of a sudden, the phone rang and Christian quickly left to see who it was, after all he was a vet and it could possibly be about an animal he was treating. However in his haste, Christian forgot to place the blankets back over little Dean. Being a newborn pup, Dean couldn't regulate his body temperature and was dependent on another being for warmth. After a few seconds, Dean began to shiver and whimper as he missed the comfort of the blankets and was helpless to pull them back over himself.

"These humans, I swear," meowed Seth angrily as he took charge of the situation and plopped down right next to the newborn.

"I thought you were all for letting Mother Nature take its course, Seth," barked Roman lightly watching Dean nuzzle into Seth's side.

Seth sighed and looked down as the pup let out a small cough and then continued to press into his side to get as much warmth as possible. "He needs a bath," meowed Seth quietly choosing to ignore Roman's comment and began to lick Dean dutifully.

**So this is what happens when it snows, my cute muse comes out to play and stories like this are born :) What I have planned for this story is that it will kind of be more like a collection of one-shots featuring Seth, Roman, and puppy Dean as he slowly grows up. Let me know what you think.**

**Please read and review.**


	2. Are You My Mother?

Are You My Mother?

Seth yawned as he opened his eyes and gazed down at Dean who was awakening himself and prodding his nose against Seth's belly and opening and closing his mouth. Seth knew by now that it meant that Dean was hungry. Again.

For the past couple of days since Dean had been brought into the house by their owner. Seth and Roman had barely left his side. To everyone's surprise, Dean much preferred to snuggle with Seth rather than Roman and made whimpering noises whenever Seth so much as moved a foot away from him. Dean did cuddle into Roman's furry side every now and then but after a while he would whine for Seth and wouldn't stop until Seth came back again.

Needless to say this had worn Seth out over the last few days not to mention the various bruises he had sustained from Dean's prodding and poking when the pup tried to look for milk that wasn't there. Seth meowed loudly for their owner, Christian, who finally got the hint and looked in on the three animals and could see that Dean was hungry.

"You hungry little buddy?" asked Christian as he gently caressed the top of Dean's head.

Seth swiped at Christian's hand and hissed crankily, "Of course he's hungry you idiot! Now go and get the milk before this pup causes me severe injury!"

"Oww, Seth," explained Christian as he rubbed the scratch on his hand and got up to go to the kitchen, "Why are you always so cranky?"

"You'd be cranky as well, human. If you hadn't slept well in 48 hours," hissed Seth at Christian's back.

"Want me to take over, Seth?" asked Roman sleepily as he yawned and stretched, getting up as well.

Seth glanced over at Roman and then down at Dean who was now rubbing his head against Seth's upper belly. Seth put one of his front paws gently on Dean's head to try and keep the pup still and started to lick his face. However, Seth's plan was unsuccessful as Dean began to wriggle around only after 10 seconds of sitting still. Seth swore under his breath, why did this pup have to be in constant motion?

"Seth?" asked Roman again.

"Nah, why don't you go outside first and take care of business and then after the little whelp is fed, I'll go. He's less fussy after he's been fed," determined Seth.

Roman slowly stood up on all fours and then stretched his back again before heading towards the door. "You know today's the day he might open his eyes," barked Roman lightly at Seth.

"He may," agreed Seth, "so I guess you better hurry because you should be the first one that he sees."

"Why do you say that?" asked Roman cocking his head at Seth quizzically.

Seth lifted his eyes to the ceiling. _Lord, give me patience with dogs._ "Because you're a dog, he's a dog, well half, but that's close enough," explained Seth, "you should be the first thing he sees so he can recognize you as his alpha or whatever you dogs call your pecking order."

"You mean his mother?" asked Roman who was now thoroughly confused, "Seth, the first thing I remember seeing was my mother, not my alpha," snorted Roman. _Cats_, Roman thought, _think they know everything when in fact they know nothing!_

"Mom?!" meowed Seth loudly, looking at Dean now worriedly. "In that case you definitely need to be the first thing Dean sees. I can't be his mother!"

"Why not, you practically already are," barked Roman smugly as Dean nestled between Seth's front paws and let out a contented sigh. "Well I'm going out for some fresh air, be back in a bit."

"Wait, Roman, I changed my mind. I want to go out first. Roman? Roman!" hissed Seth furiously but Roman was already gone. _Darn it! _Seth thought. _Dean can't recognize me as his mother, it's a ludicrous notion. The pup is going to be bigger than me in a few weeks time. He's going to want to hunt me when he's fully grown. Roman better get back here soon._

"Okay little guy, feeding time," declared Christian softly coming back into the room with a freshly made bottle of milk.

"It's about time," meowed Seth sarcastically who was not impressed by his owner's actions.

Instead of moving the puppy, Christian just held the bottle out to Dean who had situated himself between Seth's front paws and let the puppy drink his fill while Seth started to clean Dean's back. Despite himself, Seth let out a small smile when Dean gave out a tiny burp after his meal. If anyone asked, Seth would say that he didn't care much for the little furball except that wasn't true. If Seth was being honest with himself, Dean had already carved a space in Seth's heart and there was nothing that Seth could do about it.

After Christian left the room, Seth nudged Dean onto his back so that the cat could lick the pup's belly to encourage digestion. All of a sudden, Seth heard a different noise coming from Dean that he had never heard before.

"Ma…ma…ma…"

Seth stopped licking for a moment and glanced at the puppy's face. Seth meowed in surprise when he realized that little Dean was beginning to open his eyes for the first time.

"Roman! Roman! Master! Anybody!" meowed Seth wildly as he frantically tried to think a way out of this. This could not be happening. This pup could not imprint upon him of all animals!

"Ma…nah…ta…"

Seth also realized that the little pup was also trying to speak. Seth leaned over Dean's face to try to hear better and gave the pup an encouraging lick and it was at that moment when Dean's eyes flew open and latched onto Seth.

Seth gasped. The bluest eyes he had ever seen were staring right back at him with pure love and innocence and Seth knew right then and there that he would look after this puppy for the rest of his life. Despite all of Seth's natural instincts, Seth couldn't help but love this adorable, little furball.

"What is it Seth?" barked Roman bounding into the room, "is the pup okay?"

"Puppy's fine," meowed Seth uneasily as the weight of what just happened came crashing down on him, "it's just…he…opened his eyes," finished Seth as Roman trod over and glanced down at Dean.

By this time, Dean had rolled slowly back onto his belly and awkwardly stood on wobbly legs as he looked up at Roman.

"Hello, Dean," murmured Roman as he sniffed the little puppy.

"Ta…nuh…ha…nah" mumbled Dean as he tried to take in everything at once and was getting a little overwhelmed. On shaky legs he tried to take a step forward to Roman but then collapsed as he tripped over his own legs and fell onto the soft blanket. Whining, Dean looked back and spotted Seth who had remained where he was. Now that he had a target, Dean got up again on his legs and half crawled, half walked back to Seth.

"Ma…ma…ma" said Dean in his little voice over and over as he reached Seth. "Mama," said Dean as he snuggled into Seth's side once more.

"What?! No, not your mama, Dean," meowed Seth indignantly as he got up quickly causing Dean to flop over onto his side. "Roman it's your turn to take care of him," declared Seth as he began to make his way out of the room.

"Ma…ma," whined Dean as he struggled to get his legs under him and began crawling on his belly in the direction towards Seth.

"Come on little guy," said Roman gently as he picked Dean up with his mouth and plopped him down beside him.

Dean protested though and began to wiggle furiously trying to escape from Roman's side. "Nah…ma…ma…ma" whimpered Dean as he tried to climb over Roman's legs.

"No, Dean," said Roman as he nudged the little pup back into his side, "Seth needs a break."

"Ma! Ma! Ma! Mama! Ma!" Dean cried in distress as he realized that he couldn't get away from Roman.

"Dean…" Roman began trying to reason with the puppy, but Dean just started crying louder drowning out Roman's words.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," snapped Seth as he appeared back at Roman's side and began to lick Dean's face furiously which instantly calmed the pup down.

"Mama, mama, mama," said Dean over and over as he lifted one of his little paws trying to touch Seth's face.

Seth stopped after a second and gave the puppy a hard stare, "It's Seth, Dean, not Mama," he meowed.

"Mama," said Dean as he walked under Seth and plopped himself right down under the cat.

Roman couldn't help but laugh at the entire scene as Seth tried over and over to convince Dean he was not his 'Mama' while Dean kept refuting Seth's claim and following the cat around the blankets. Eventually, Seth gave up trying to reason with the one and a half week old pup and hunkered down while Dean climbed onto his back and began to play lightly with Seth's ears.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're a wonderful mother, Seth," barked Roman teasingly.

Seth narrowed his eyes at Roman and hissed, "Shut up, Roman! You're just jealous that Dean likes me better than you."

"Keep telling yourself that, Seth," barked Roman wryly as he looked at them both with fondness, "Keep telling yourself that."

"Mama," said Dean sleepily as he curled into a tiny ball on Seth's back and drifted off to sleep once more.

**I realize that I am taking some artistic liberties with my depiction of animals and how puppies develop and mature, but I hope everyone reading this will forgive me for them and just enjoy the story for what it is :)**

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter, it's always nice to receive reader feedback. Peace!**


	3. Mastering the Stairs

Mastering the Stairs

"Eth! Eth!" yipped Dean.

Seth sighed. On the one hand, he was glad that Dean had stopped calling him 'Mama', but the puppy still didn't like being too far away from Seth and he still couldn't say his 's's. Hence, Seth's name for now was reduced to 'Eth'.

"Roman can you handle Dean?" Seth meowed to the big lug who was taking a nap on his favorite rug.

"Hmph…what?" barked Roman sleepily as he opened one eye to look at Seth.

"Eth! Eth! Eth!"

"Do you hear that?" meowed Seth sarcastically to Roman. "Dean needs help. Can you see what he needs? I am going out to catch a mouse or two, so I can regain whatever is left of my manhood," finished Seth as he started towards the flap in the back door.

"Sounds like he's asking for you," said Roman as he turned over not making a move to get up.

Seth hissed. Oh no! Roman was not getting out of this. Seth pounced on Roman angrily and bit his ear hard.

"OWW!" Roman barked as Seth jumped away from the big dog. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" barked Roman loudly.

"HANDLE IT!" screeched Seth his hackles rising to show Roman that he meant business.

"Okay! God!" barked Roman at Seth's smug retreating back. "There are some days when I really hate cats," growled Roman as he followed the sound of Dean's yips. Roman found the small pup sitting at the top of the stairs and looking helpless. "What's the matter, Dean?" asked Roman.

"Help." Barked Dean simply at Roman and gave him a look that clearly stated, 'you should know what I am talking about.'

"Help? What do you need help with?" asked Roman as he sat down on his haunches in front of the stairs. He had a feeling he knew what Dean was referring to, but the pup would never learn to speak properly if Roman and Seth didn't challenge him to communicate better.

Dean gave a frustrated 'humph', glaring down at the older dog. Roman could practically see the wheels turning in Dean's mind as he searched for the right words in his still limited vocabulary.

"Down!" barked Dean finally as he smacked one of his paws on the edge of the top step to indicate what he wanted down from. "Want! Down!" Said Dean, his yips growing louder with each word.

"Good," barked Roman slowly trying not to discourage the puppy, "but let's try that again. Remember to say, 'please' this time, Dean."

Dean whined and dropped to his belly, putting his front paws over his eyes in rebellion.

"Come on, Dean. I want to hear you say it." Barked Roman patiently.

Dean humphed again, but sat up and took a deep breath before barking, "Peaze Ro, help down 'tairz."

"Very nice, Dean" praised Roman ignoring the fact that Dean had pronounced several words wrong, "but I think it's time that you learn how to walk down the stairs yourself."

"What?! No! Ro! No!" barked Dean as he began to pace back and forth on the top of the landing. "Can't! Won't! No!"

"Dean, calm down," barked Roman reassuringly as he began to walk up the stairs to Dean.

Roman thought it was high time that Dean tried again. A few days ago, Dean had walked up the stairs successfully to the applause of their owner, Christian, who had been home at the time. At that time, Dean who was feeling brave from his success then proceeded to go down the stairs but lost his balance and tumbled all the way down. Dean hadn't been hurt aside from a couple of bruises because the stairs were carpeted and only had five steps however Dean had been traumatized from the fall and from that day forth had refused to go down on his own which led to either Christian or Roman carrying him down the stairs.

_Yes_, Roman thought, today would be the day where Dean would conquer his fear.

"No! No! Nuh! Uh!" whined Dean practically hyperventilating as Roman joined him on top of the landing.

"Dean, relax," said Roman as he licked Dean encouragingly, "It's easy if you just focus on one step at a time. I'll teach you, okay?"

Dean looked up at Roman and then down the stairs. It looked so high up to Dean and he remembered how much falling had hurt from his previous experience. Dean looked up with wide puppy dog eyes at Roman trying to plead silently for the older dog to just carry him down the stairs.

Roman tried his best to ignore the look Dean was giving him. "Come on, just put your two front paws on the first step," said Roman as he modeled what he wanted Dean to do.

"Nope." Said Dean plopping down on his haunches and pointedly stared away from Roman.

"Dean, do it," barked Roman.

"No!" barked Dean back as he began to edge further away from the stairs.

Roman had had enough. Dean needed to learn how to do this. It was not an option. Roman took his paws off the first step and walked towards Dean who was backing further away from Roman. However he was still too slow for the Belgian Shepherd who headed off the pup's retreat and quietly nudged him towards the stairs.

"No. Ro. No. Scary!" whimpered Dean as Roman made him stand right on the edge of the landing.

"Just put your two front paws on the first step," commanded Roman again hovering over Dean.

Dean took a big breath and let it out. After looking frighteningly at the steps for a couple of moments, Dean tentatively put out one of his front paws and set it on the first step followed by the other one.

"Yes, good Dean, now…" Roman began to give other instructions but stopped when Dean got scared and retreated back up to the landing.

"No, nope, no," said Dean shaking his head.

"Dean you were almost there," said Roman trying not to lose his temper, "Come on, and try again."

"No!" barked Dean in defiance, "Ro mean!" The pup declared looking up at the older dog accusingly.

Roman let out a breath and counted to ten in his head before speaking so that he wouldn't snap at the puppy. "Dean, don't you want to learn how to do this?"

Dean blinked up at Roman and thought about it before nodding his head and staring at the ground. "Hard, Ro," whined Dean softly as he stared down the stairs again, "Scary."

"I know it's hard and scary," admitted Roman as he nuzzled Dean's head to comfort him, "But you're becoming a big dog and big dogs need to learn to do this. Besides, think about it, what's the worse thing that can happen?"

Dean looked up at Roman like he couldn't believe what the dog had just said to him, "I fall!" Dean barked in a way that clearly communicated to Roman how much falling upset the little puppy.

"Okay, yes, you might fall," said Roman nodding his head, "but then what would happen?"

Dean cocked his head at Roman not understanding where he was going with this, "I hurt," whined Dean.

"Alright, then you might hurt for a little bit," said Roman shrugging his shoulders trying to communicate to the pup that it wasn't a big deal, "but then you would get back up and be fine. Right? Isn't that what happened last time? Or, chances are you will probably be successful and not fall and go down the stairs all by yourself." Said Roman, "But you won't know until you try. Are you ready to try, Dean?" asked Roman.

Dean looked at Roman and then puffed out his chest a bit and yapped, "Okay, I try."

"Good boy," barked Roman approvingly as he watched Dean go up to the landing again.

Dean gave one last look back at Roman who nodded encouragingly and then Dean put out his two paws on the front step again. Dean stood like that for a moment, his limbs shaking, but then his back legs followed him and he took his first step down successfully.

"Good job, Dean" barked Roman excitedly, "Keep going!"

Dean was concentrating too hard to acknowledge Roman's barks but kept going until before he knew it, he had reached the bottom.

"I did it! I did it!" yapped Dean in victory.

"Yes, you did it!" barked Roman proudly as he came down the stairs to join Dean in celebration of the pup's accomplishment.

"I did it! I did it! I did it!"

**Thanks for your support! Please read and review, it'll only take a few :)**


	4. Bathtime!

Bath time!

"Pup!" Meowed Seth sprinting into the living room over to where Dean was sleeping on the couch. "Hide! Now!"

"Eth?" Dean mumbled as he opened his eyes and rolled onto his back so that he was facing Seth upside down with his tongue hanging out.

"Dean, get moving! This is no time for fun and games!" meowed Seth as he jumped up onto the couch and started to prod Dean forcefully in order to get him up. "Let's go! Up! Up! Up!"

"What's 'appening, Eth?" yapped Dean quizzically as Seth rolled him onto his belly. Dean lifted his head and regarded Seth who was actually looking fearfully at Dean as if he wanted to shield him from something awful.

"And so it begins," barked Roman coming into the living room looking highly amused at Seth's distress.

"Shut up, Roman! I will not let our stupid owner terrorize the pup. Not on my watch!" hissed Seth with all the indignation of a protective mama bear.

"You can't hide him forever," barked Roman rolling his eyes at Seth's dramatics, "sooner or later, master is going to find him. Besides, you sometimes forget that Dean is not a cat, he'll probably enjoy it."

"He most certainly will not!" Seth declared nudging Dean off the couch and was now trying to persuade him to crawl under the couch much to the confusion of Dean who had no idea what was going on. "Besides Roman there are times when I swear that Dean exhibits almost feline qualities," sniffed Seth proudly.

"In your dreams, Seth," barked Roman, "the pup's a wolfie through and through, although, perhaps we should adopt a kitten next."

"What's 'appening, Eth?" yapped Dean trying to prevent Seth from pushing him underneath the couch. Dean didn't like it under the couch. It was hard to get in there and once he was under there he usually got stuck. Plus it was dark and smelled of old socks and spiders. "Why you 'cared?"

"I am not scared, merely concerned," meowed Seth looking worriedly towards the second floor for a second before renewing his effort to hide Dean.

"Cats are terrified of water, Dean," Roman explained to the confused puppy, "our owner is preparing to give you your first human bath in the tub and Seth, as usual, is overreacting." Roman finished as he fixed Seth with a silent stare trying to communicate to the cat, 'stop it, you're getting the pup worked up for no reason.'

"What's a…a…ta…tub?" asked Dean trying out the new word, as it rolled awkwardly off his tongue.

Before Roman could open his mouth to respond, Seth beat him to it.

"It is a porcelain torture chamber!" shrieked Seth shuddering at the very thought of the thing, "An evil object designed by the cruelest human minds ever known to the animal kingdom. A contraption that will take every shred of dignity you have and leave you feeling absolutely helpless. It's the place where dreams go to die!"

Dean's eyes grew as wide as saucers at Seth's words. He didn't understand more than half of what Seth had just said, but what he did understand from Seth was that a tub was not good. Not good at all.

"Dean!" barked Roman observing how the little pup was starting to take Seth's words to heart. "A tub is a big, white bowl that has water in it. That's it."

Dean glanced at Roman who he trusted and then back to Seth whom he also trusted. He was so confused.

"Dean! Hide now!" Seth meowed bringing Dean out of his thoughts. Seth had given up trying to push the puppy under the couch and was now trying to squeeze Dean behind the entertainment center. "Roman! Don't just stand there uselessly. Come over here and help me!" hissed Seth, nearly at his wit's end.

"No," barked Roman simply sitting down in the middle of the living room, "I refuse to support your foolish notion that a human bath is a calamity. It's a fact of life and Dean needs to get used to it."

"He does not." Meowed Seth stubbornly. "The baths I give him are perfectly adequate and I am offended that our idiotic master thinks that he is not clean. Has the man smelled his own body? He should be concerned about his own hygiene before he goes messing around with ours."

Seth was making some progress with hiding Dean. The poor little pup's body was a little over halfway squeezed between the wall and the entertainment center with only his butt and tail sticking out.

"Eth! Don't like!" yapped Dean loudly as he struggled to get out.

"Quiet, Dean!" meowed Seth in a scolding manner, "this is for your own good. You'll thank me later."

"Or not." Barked Roman.

"No one asked your opinion!" hissed Seth at the black dog. "Oh, no, he's coming. Dean remain perfectly still," whispered Seth as he tried to casually hide the rest of Dean's body from their owner's prying eyes.

"Okay, Dean, it's time for your bath," said Christian coming down the stairs, his eyes sweeping around trying to locate the little pup. "Dean? What have you gotten yourself into?" laughed Christian as he spotted the pup's butt sticking out from behind the entertainment center with Seth standing right in front of him. "Don't worry little fella, I'll get you out," assured Christian as he reached down and gently tugged Dean free and began to carry him up the stairs. "Owww! Seth! What has gotten into you?!" asked Christian as the crazy cat began to claw at his legs trying to make him let go of Dean.

"Let go of him, you…you…sadist!" hissed Seth as he clawed and scratched at his owner's legs, following him up the stairs.

Christian had enough. Holding Dean with one arm, he reached down and grabbed Seth by the scruff of his neck and placed him in the master bedroom before quickly closing the door behind Seth, effectively locking him in so that he wouldn't interfere with bathtime.

Dean looked anxiously towards the bedroom door where he could still hear Seth hissing furiously and clawing at the door. Dean wasn't sure now that he wanted to go into this tub. Whatever it was, for Seth to act this way, it must be awful. Dean started to squirm in Christian's arms and whimper as they made their way into the bathroom where the infamous tub was.

"Dean, don't listen to Seth," barked Roman from the doorway of the bathroom, "you'll be fine, our owner won't harm you."

"Hey, it's okay little one," said Christian in a soothing tone as he stroked Dean's back, "it's just a bath. See," Christian splashed a tiny bit of water onto Dean's back, "just water. Nothing to be afraid of."

Dean calmed down a tad with Roman watching from the doorway and Christian holding on to him securely. However, Dean was still shaking, he couldn't help but remember Seth's fearful glances.

"Shhh," Christian sat Dean on his lap and continued to pet his head and back as he checked the water temperature to make sure that it was neither too cold or too hot. Finding the water to be at a near perfect temperature, Christian slowly lifted Dean up and over into the tub.

Dean struggled at first, the tub was, indeed as Roman had said, the biggest bowl he had ever seen and the foreignness of it put Dean on edge. Dean held his four legs out stiffly, unsure of the whole thing until his feet hit the water.

"There now, that wasn't so bad was it?" asked Christian lightly as he set the pup down into the water which was only an inch or two high.

_No_, Dean thought to himself, _it's not bad. It's nice and warm_. Dean took a cautious step around the tub. It was a bit slippery to walk on but not incredibly difficult. However, a different sound froze Dean in his tracks.

Christian had just turned on the showerhead, which he would use to wash Dean. Not wanting to frighten the puppy unnecessarily though, he brought the showerhead near Dean to allow the dog to inspect it first before he used it on him. With a sniff, lick and a bite, Dean realized that it was just water.

From there, the bath went well. Dean enjoyed the feeling of the water and liked splashing around the tub. He also liked trying to catch the water that came out of the showerhead. Dean wasn't a fan of the strange substance that his owner put on him and rubbed all over his body, but it was washed off soon enough. However, Dean's favorite part of the bath was actually getting wrapped up in a big, fluffy towel and being held by his owner for a bit before he dried him.

Dean let out a contented sigh as Christian finally let him down after he had deemed the pup dry enough and went over to Roman who was looking at the pup approvingly.

"I like ta…tub. Why Eth not?" yapped Dean as he shook out his fur one last time and looked up at Roman.

Roman gave a deep and pondering sigh before answering, "Dean, there is only one thing that us dogs should understand about cats. And that is, dogs cannot understand cats."

**Hope you liked it :)**

**Thank you all for reading, please take a moment to review.**


	5. But I'm Not Sleepy

But I'm Not Sleepy

"Dean! Time for bed!" barked Roman as he walked into the dining room to find Dean playing with his favorite toy, a bright, orange ball, underneath the dining room table.

Dean seemed not to have heard Roman for he was caught up in his own private fun. Dean loved to push the orange ball away from him and then run up and tackle it, which would then end up with him on his back or his side, as the puppy would roll off the ball. Dean would do this over and over again, tongue hanging out of the corner of his mouth and his tail wagging furiously, happy as can be.

"Dean," barked Roman patiently looking underneath the table, "It's time for bed. Put away your ball."

Dean didn't even turn his head towards Roman and continued playing. Roman knew Dean had definitely heard him the second time and was now struggling to keep an even temper.

"Dean, " barked Roman warningly, "I'm giving you to the count of three to come out from under there and put your ball away."

Dean just kept on ignoring the big dog.

"One…Twwooo…" said Roman slowly trying to give Dean ample opportunity to make the right decision, "Two and a half…and…three!"

Roman's counting did not perturb Dean in the least. The puppy continued to frolick under the table with his ball, wagging his little butt and tail in excitement.

"That's it! You are in big trouble, pup!" barked Roman as he tried to reach underneath the table to drag the puppy out but the bigger dog had miscalculated. The chairs were pushed in too tight and Roman was unable to squeeze himself either around or underneath them. Dean, being the clever puppy that he was, had picked the perfect spot to evade Roman and get away with staying up longer to play more. "Dean, I won't say this again," barked Roman in frustration, "get out from under there, now!"

Dean finally stopped ignoring Roman and looked up from his ball with a look of feigned innocence, "But Ro…owner not home yet," yipped Dean.

"Our owner is not coming home tonight, Dean," said Roman trying desperately to maintain his patience and losing that battle, "It's time for bed!"

"Nope," yapped Dean simply as he turned back to his ball.

"Yes, Dean! You need to go to bed!" barked Roman authoritatively.

In answer, Dean jumped on top of the ball and bit into it, tossing his head from side to side, pretending that the ball was some sort of prey.

"DEANNN!"

"I swear, you dogs are all bark and no bite," meowed Seth calmly as he smoothly sauntered into the dining room and eased himself under the dining room table.

Before Dean even knew that Seth was there, Seth slyly batted the ball away from Dean with his tail and grabbed one of the puppy's ears with his mouth and dragged him out from underneath the table.

"No! 'Eth! 'Eth! Oww, oww, owwww," yipped Dean as he struggled against the cat. But it was to no avail. As soon as Seth had brought Dean out from under the dining room table by force he let go of his ear and Roman scooped up the naughty puppy with his mouth. Roman then walked into the living room and deposited Dean into his doggie bed. But no sooner had Roman let him go than Dean sprang from his bed and ran into the kitchen.

"DEAN!" barked Roman at the end of his rope. He swore under his breath, this puppy was going to drive him to an early grave. Roman was sure that he had never caused this much trouble when he was a pup. He had always listened to his elders. Why was it so hard for Dean to listen? Why couldn't he stay still?!

Roman ran after Dean into the kitchen and spotted him immediately at his water bowl lapping up water as if his life depended upon it. Roman huffed angrily and stalked over to Dean. This puppy would learn to obey him. It was time to put the foot down.

"Dean," barked Roman with gritted teeth, "get into your bed now! That is not up for negotiation!"

Dean stopped lapping up water and turned his head upwards to Roman with his wide, blue, puppy-dog eyes. "But I'm thirzty."

"Then drink your water and go to bed," barked Roman.

Dean slowly turned back to his water and began to lap it up in the slowest way possible. Dean brought his tongue out in slow motion and in between licks would take unbelievably, long pauses. Roman stamped one of his front paws in anger, Dean was playing him and they both knew it.

"Must I have to do everything around here," quipped Seth as he walked among the standoff in between Roman and Dean. Not missing a beat, Seth walked up to the disobedient pup and again grabbed him by the ear and led him back to his bed with Dean protesting all the way.

"No! NO! Can't make me! Oww, 'Eth! OWWWW!" yipped Dean his light bark getting even higher pitched as he made his displeasure known.

Seth acted like he hadn't heard a word Dean said but continued doing what he was doing until they were in Dean's bed. Roman stood back a few feet from Seth letting him take the lead but was ready to catch Dean if the puppy dared to try to escape from the bed again.

Seth let go of Dean's ear and immediately Dean tried to scurry away. But Roman was ready this time and easily caught Dean in his mouth and placed him back in his bed. As soon as Dean's little paws hit the bed again, he again tried to escape. And again he was caught and promptly put back. Dean and Roman played this game several more times until Dean panting from his efforts sat in his bed and glared at Roman and Seth.

"Play! Want to play! No zleep!" Dean yapped at the older animals.

"It is way past all of our bedtimes, Dean," meowed Seth as he walked up to the disgruntled puppy and attempted to sooth him by licking his head.

"But I'm not zleepy!" Dean yipped as he tried to wriggle away from Seth's ministrations.

In response, Seth plopped onto Dean effectively pinning the pup to his bed and continued to lick him even though Dean was unsuccessfully trying to shake him off.

"You are going to be sleepy in the morning, Dean, if you don't go to bed soon," warned Roman still angry at the puppy as he plopped down onto Dean's bed. Dean tended to sleep better when either Roman or Seth slept with him.

"No I won't," yipped Dean stubbornly as he twisted and turned trying to get away from Seth's tongue.

"Dean," meowed Seth loudly, "Keep still. You need a bath."

"No. No. NO!" Dean yapped defiantly.

"Dean, forget about it," barked Roman as he laid his head down, "your not going to play anymore tonight and you are not getting up from that bed. Just close your eyes and sleep."

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. No. Nope. Nope. Nopity, nope, nope," yapped Dean as he squirmed all the more against Seth. This went on for quite some time until the little puppy wore himself out and began to yawn.

Even with Dean's yips Roman had nodded off to sleep and it was now just Seth and Dean who were awake. Seth continued to give Dean a bath and lay on top of the pup as Dean's yawns began to get bigger and bigger. With one last huge yawn, Dean laid down his head onto the bed although still mumbling under his breath, "No…nope…no…nope…not zleepy…nope…not zleep…"

Seth smiled warmly at Dean who closed his eyes as sleep overtook him. Nimbly, Seth got off of the puppy but instead of heading to his favorite sock drawer decided to curl up on top of Roman's back and went to sleep himself.

And that is how Christian found all three of them the next morning. All curled up and piled onto each other, sleeping soundly.

**Goodnight.**

**Sorry for taking so long to update. Life got in the way as it does sometimes. Thank you all for reading and reviewing :)**


	6. Down the Rabbit Hole

Down the Rabbit Hole

It was a relatively warm winter day and Dean was enjoying himself outside in the backyard. Dean had been introduced to the outside only a few days ago and had fallen in love with it almost immediately. Dean was still very much a puppy and was incredibly tiny especially for a wolf dog, his head barely reaching Seth's shoulders so the backyard was plenty big enough for him.

However, Dean was extremely curious by nature and in his first day outside had noticed that there was a slight hole in the fence. Not a huge hole, but one just big enough to where it could fit a little puppy or cat through.

When Dean had gone up to it to check it out, Seth had blocked Dean's path and had made the puppy promise to never go through that hole. Dean, in order to get Seth off his back, promised but he didn't really mean it. Dean wanted to find out what lay beyond that mysterious hole plus the puppy thought that Seth was a bit of a worrywart. Seth had freaked out over the human bath but Dean had liked it so the puppy figured it must be something like that.

So, since Dean was now alone in the backyard with Seth and Roman wishing to stay inside instead, Dean wanted to take advantage of that fact. As quick as he could, Dean scurried up to the hole and first sniffed it.

Dean was taken aback. It smelled like Seth. Dean stomped one of his paws in righteous anger. How dare Seth? He forbade Dean from going but he went through the hole. _Seth got to have all the fun_, Dean thought. _Well not anymore_, thought Dean smugly, as he crouched onto his belly and wiggled his way through the hole in the fence.

As soon as Dean got through the hole, he shook his fur out a bit and sniffed around. The hole had led to a small alleyway that ran between eight houses on the block. The alleyway had probably once been an actual road but was now too small for any use except for people to place their garbage cans out on.

Dean wasn't really sure what the big cylinders full of interesting smells were but he wanted to find out. Sniffing harder, Dean placed his nose to the ground and began to investigate his surroundings. The air had a weird smell, thought the puppy, it sort of smelled like Seth except it wasn't. It was different, sort of dirtier.

A harsh sound startled the puppy and Dean yelped out as the lid to one of the funny smelling cylinders crashed open and out popped a curious looking animal. Dean jumped back a bit, curious but wary as the animal fixed its eyes on Dean and leapt gracefully down to the ground.

"Well, well, well," meowed a voice from above Dean as the other animal circled the wolfie, "What do you suppose we have here, Daniel?"

Now that the animal had gotten closer to Dean, he realized that the animal was a cat, like Seth, except he was dirty and stinky. _Seth would never be caught dead dirty and stinky_, thought Dean to himself as he wrinkled his nose at the unpleasant smells the cat was emanating.

This yellow cat that was circling him also had bushy hair that was full of tangles and gnarls which didn't add anything to the cat's overall appearance. However, when Dean turned his head upwards towards the voice that had spoken, Dean was surprised to see a fairly normal cat except he was all black and had piercing green eyes that had an odd look to them.

"It is a puppy," rasped the yellow, mangy cat that was named Daniel as he sniffed the air close to Dean, "but there is something else…"

"I am very much aware of that, Daniel," said the black cat with a nasty, biting tone to his voice, "What I want to know is what that other scent I smell on the pup is?"

Dean leaned away from the yellow cat suddenly scared as the cat invaded his personal space and gave a big sniff. "Oh," meowed the cat startled for a bit as he realized what he was smelling, "It appears that the pup is not just a pup, but half wolf," finished the cat as it hissed at Dean.

_What's a wolf?_ Dean thought to himself as he shrank back as the dirty cat hissed at him. Seth never hissed at Dean not even when he was really angry. _What did I do wrong_, thought Dean as he noticed a few other cats come out from the shadows of the alleyway.

"Oh this is good," said the black cat with a dark humorous tone to his voice, "this is just too good. Who would have thought that the spawn of a wolf and dog would one day enter into my domain?" The black cat made his way down from the brick wall he had been sitting on and stalked over to Dean who was starting to think that maybe he should have listened to Seth.

"Who are you?" yelped Dean quietly as he glanced around nervously as several more cats started to crowd around the cat named Daniel and the black cat.

"It speaks," meowed the black cat amused as he regarded Dean with the crook of his head, "imagine my surprise. I would have thought that the unholy offspring of a wolf and dog would be too stupid to communicate. But apparently I was wrong."

Dean didn't like the look in the black cat's eyes. He looked like he wanted to eat Dean. Now thoroughly scared, Dean tried to retreat back to the hole but found his way blocked off by several cats that were now forming a circle around him and the black cat.

"Well since you asked so nicely, puppy, I'll tell you who I am," stated the black cat proudly as he continued to stalk Dean around the circle, "my name is CM Punk and I am the best cat in the world." The other cats meowed their assent at this proclamation but Dean gave the cat an odd look. This wasn't the best cat. _If any cat was the best, it was Seth_, thought Dean as he glared at the cat who dared to say that he was better than Seth.

"No!" yipped Dean suddenly feeling the need to act braver than he felt.

"What did you say, pup?" hissed Punk as he noticed that the puppy didn't look scared of him anymore.

"You…you…you're not best," yipped Dean gulping as he noticed the death glare he was receiving from Punk but decided to continue his statement, "Ss…S…Seth is best."

Punk let out an evil chuckle at Dean's words, "Seth? That pretty cat traitor who thinks he is too good for the likes of us when he forgets that he used to be one of us. I think not, little wolf."

Dean flinched as Punk's tail swatted him in the face as the cat laughed at him again. Dean looked around and saw only mean faces as he realized that he was surrounded by alley cats that were all bigger and meaner than him. Feeling threatened, Dean tried to put on a brave face like he knew Roman would and attempted to bark at them. But what came out of his mouth were a few scared yelps that only succeeded in getting the cats to laugh at him even more.

"What was that?" screeched one of the cats with mean laughter.

"I think it was supposed to be a bark," said Daniel with a smirk.

"Well now I've think I've seen it all," meowed another cat, "A dog that can't bark!" At that mean jib all of the cats burst out laughing even more and some of them pushed and prodded Dean hard with their paws which hurt the little puppy as he struggled to get out of the circle but they wouldn't let him.

"Let me out," yelped Dean in distress as he tried to get away from the mean cats, "Let me go home. I want to go home!"

"Enough!" meowed Punk loudly as the rest of the cats went silent, stopped, and edged away from Dean but kept the circle intact leaving the black cat and the wolfie in the center.

Dean whimpered and laid down on the ground trying to make himself as small as possible with his tail drooped under his butt and his ears hanging low in fear. He wanted Seth and Roman to come and take him away from here. He was sorry that he didn't listen. He was sorry that he had ever even looked at that hole in the first place. He just wanted to go home!

Punk let out an evil smile as he circled his prey. "I'm sorry, little wolf, but I can't do that," meowed Punk not sounding sorry at all, in fact he sounded almost gleeful. "You see, I've always hated dogs and wolves. When I was three, a rabid dog took a bite out of my tail and two years later, a mangy wolf almost killed me and if it weren't for Daniel I wouldn't be here today," finished Punk as he showed his tail and scars to Dean. "I yearn for justice, little wolf, and I think that your death would go a long way towards satisfying my thirst for justice," hissed the black cat with an evil glint in his eyes.

Dean's eyes widened as he shivered in fear. This cat was evil and he wanted him dead. Dean didn't understand. He didn't do anything wrong. It made no sense.

Before Dean could do anything, Punk pounced and swiped his claws angrily towards Dean's face. Dean let out a wounded yelp as he jumped away. But he had jumped away a little too late, Punk had got him across the face and Dean knew he was wounded as he felt blood rushing down his fur and an intense pain right below his left eye. Punk didn't pursue his prey immediately but hung a few paces back letting the puppy get more and more scared. Punk loved to take his sweet ol' time with his victims.

Dean whimpered he didn't know what to do so he did the only thing he could think of. He cried out for help, "Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!"

"Sorry, little pup," snickered Punk as he stalked ever closer to Dean, "I don't think your mother is coming. You are all alone and no one can save you now."

"Mama! Ma! Mama!" yelped Dean as he tried to scoot away from Punk but was pushed back by the cats who maintained the circle, "Mama! MAMA!" Dean closed his eyes as he saw Punk raise his claws and waited for the next blow to come but it didn't.

A loud screech and howl caused Dean to open his eyes to find Seth standing tall and protectively over him and hissing at all the cats surrounding him.

"Mama!" yipped Dean happily as he looked up at Seth with adoring eyes.

"Get away from him!" hissed Seth dangerously at Punk as he fixed his eyes on the black cat who was now sporting a bloody ear and had taken a few steps back but did not show signs of a full retreat.

"Hello, Seth," spit out Punk, "Didn't take you for a wolfie lover. Perhaps your time as a house cat has now addled your brain."

"And I see you've just grown uglier with age, Punk," hissed Seth back as he arched his back ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

"Why are you protecting that furball?!" shot back Punk as he glared at Dean who whimpered and pressed himself close to Seth as he felt the evil cat's eyes on him again, "He's an abomination and should be put down before he grows up to wreck havoc!"

"I won't!" piped up Dean trying to appease the cat, "I won't wrack ha..havok. I promise!"

"Don't listen to him, Dean," meowed Seth as he took a second to nuzzle the poor puppy's head soothingly and then turned back to face Punk, "He's just an ignorant pussy!"

"Who are you calling, pussy?" hissed Punk as he narrowed his eyes at Seth.

"You," meowed Seth smugly, "Or are you deaf as well as dumb, Punk?"

"Give me the wolfie, Seth," said Punk in a low and dangerous tone as he took a few steps closer.

Seth brought himself up to his full height and screeched, "NEVER! The only way you will get your claws on him is over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged," hissed Punk as he also arched his back.

The other cats who were watching took a few more steps back as the two angry cats circled each other, eyeing one another up. Then, in a flash, Seth and Punk locked up, clawing and scratching at each other furiously. In one instance, it looked like Punk had the upper hand but then it would switch to where it looked like Seth would win. The two cats traded blows until Seth knocked Punk powerfully onto his back, with a quick swipe blinded Punk in one eye and then held his claws over Punk's neck threateningly. It was now clear who the winner was. The rest of the cats who were watching were muttering amongst themselves.

"Submit, Punk!" hissed Seth as he kept his claws dangerously close to Punk's throat. Punk lay still as he felt Seth's claws near his throat but even still his pride made him hesitate. "Submit!" hissed Seth again as he pressed his claws slightly into the other cat's throat.

"Fine!" Punk hissed back finally, "I submit."

"And you and your gang will let us leave and you will never bother us again!" demanded Seth as he kept his claws in their threatening position. "Because if you don't. I swear, Punk, I won't hesitate to kill you next time."

"Yes, yes! Fine! Just go!" hissed Punk as he spit out his agreement.

Seth hissed at Punk one more time before he let the cat go and quickly ushered Dean who was sort of in a state of shock from his traumatic experience back up the alley, through the hole, and into the safety of their house before Punk and his gang changed their minds.

Seth turned angrily to Dean, when they were in the house, ready to give the puppy a piece of his mind, "Dean! What were you thinking?! I told you to not go through that hole! Why didn't you listen to me?!"

It was too much for the little pup as he finally let his tears out. "I'm sorry, mama! I'm sorry," wailed Dean, "I just wanted to see." The pup tried to explain his actions but all that came out of his mouth was gibberish as he continued to cry.

"What's going on?" barked Roman as he came into the kitchen alerted by Dean's cries. "Seth, why is he crying? And why is he calling you 'mama' again?"

Seth let out a deep sigh as he licked Dean's tears in order to comfort the tiny pup. "Punk happened," the cat said as a way of explanation and apparently that was enough for Roman who growled at the mention of the black cat.

"Did that scoundrel harm the pup?" Roman got his answer as he spied the cut right below Dean's left eye and instantly his blood started to boil, "I'll kill him!"

"No need," meowed Seth trying to calm Roman and Dean down as he gently prodded Dean into the living room and into his doggie bed as he laid down next to him tending to Dean's wound, "I took care of it, Roman."

"Good." Barked Roman gruffly as he licked Dean a few times himself and then went to go look out the window to see if their owner was home yet.

"Seth?" Dean whimpered as he nuzzled his face into the cat's fluffy side.

"Yes, Dean?" replied Seth as he continued to lick and nuzzle the puppy who was still shaking.

"What's a wolf? Punk said I was half wolf. I thought I was a dog?" asked Dean as looked at Seth and then at Roman who had also heard the pup's question.

Seth and Roman looked at each other.

"We'll explain later, Dean," meowed Seth softly as he cuddled closer to Dean in order to make the puppy feel safe, "You're safe. Sleep now." And as Seth purred comfortingly, Dean's eyes closed and the exhausted pup went right to sleep.

**Thanks for reading and reviewing :)**


	7. How to Howl

How to Howl

Dean sat glumly on the couch with his head resting on his front paws, his ears down, and his tail tucked underneath his little body. For the whole day, Dean had been like this just sitting forlornly on the couch, staring into space and nothing Seth or Roman said or did could snap him out of it.

Roman and Seth eyed him from the dining room as Seth walked back towards Roman after his latest attempt to cheer Dean up had failed.

"Well, I've tried everything," meowed Seth softly so as not to be overheard by Dean, "That puppy has the major blues."

"I wonder why," barked Roman quietly as he rolled his eyes at Seth, "Just give him some space. Dean has been through a lot in the past 48 hours."

"So have I!" meowed Seth indignantly, "I nearly had a heart attack when I looked out the window yesterday and didn't see him anywhere in the backyard. For a moment, I had a horrible thought that a falcon or eagle had swooped down and carried him off. And then to hear his cries in the distance and to see him surrounded by Punk and his gang made my fur stand up on edge."

"Seth, calm down," Roman gruffed, "your hysterics won't solve anything. Give him a break, the puppy is only three and a half weeks old after all."

"I know, I know," sighed Seth sitting down beside Roman in the corner of the dining room that was always warm, "It's just…Ro, I just want to see Dean happy again with his little ears perked up and his tail wagging up a storm."

"Yeah, me too," agreed Roman as he gave Seth a big, wet lick.

"Ewww, gross Roman!" shrieked Seth as he pounced back to his feet and began to furiously rub the dog's saliva off of him, "Great, now I'm gonna smell like dog for the rest of the day," grumbled Seth as he glared at Roman with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry, Seth," barked Roman although he didn't sound apologetic whatsoever, "Why don't you go to your favorite scratching post upstairs to take your mind off things and I'll see if I can't get Dean to talk to me?"

"Fine!" meowed Seth as he gave his fur one last shake, "But you're still on my shit list for this, Ro! You should know better than to lick me! I oughta scratch you! But, luckily for you, I'm in a generous mood today," finished Seth as he made his way towards the stairs with his tail high in the air.

"You're a saint, Seth," barked Roman sarcastically as he rolled his eyes again at the cat.

After Seth had made his way upstairs just like Roman had suggested. Roman stretched and slowly made his way over to the sad, little puppy on the couch.

"Hey, pup," greeted Roman as he jumped onto the sofa next to Dean.

"Hey," mumbled the puppy, his eyes still fixed on the carpet.

_Well at least he said one word to me_, thought Roman, _that's some progress._

"Whatcha doing?" asked the big dog nonchalantly as he nudged Dean's head ever so slightly with his nose, trying to get the pup to at least look at him. Roman got his wish as Dean lifted his head up finally and gazed at the bigger dog with somber, blue eyes.

"Not much," yipped Dean finally as he set his head down again on his front paws.

"You haven't moved from this spot all day," pointed out Roman gently as he nudged Dean for a second time.

Dean muttered something incoherently.

"What did you say," barked Roman as he licked the top of Dean's head comfortingly, "I didn't quite catch that last part."

"It's s…s…safe here," yapped Dean as he tried to curl even further within himself.

Roman sighed and laid his head down by Dean's body. Both dog and puppy stayed like that for a while. Roman didn't want to rush or pressure Dean into talking, but, at the same time, he really wanted to know what was bothering the puppy so much. _If only I knew what was making him so sad then perhaps I could fix it_, thought Roman.

Finally after what seemed like forever to Roman, Dean spoke.

"I…I couldn't bark, Ro," admitted Dean as he put his front paws over his eyes in shame obviously thinking that the older dog would judge him for his failure.

"How did that make you feel?" asked Roman gently now beginning to understand part of the problem.

"Ssstupid," whimpered Dean as a big tear came rolling out of his eye. "Then…then…they laughed at me, Ro."

Roman's anger grew at those cats. _Punk better pray that I never run into him_, thought Roman viciously, _because if I ever see him again that cat is going to feel my wrath!_

"Why couldn't I bark, Ro?" asked Dean innocently as the turned his tearful eyes towards the dog.

"Well, you are still very young, Dean," began Roman, "although, I'm not sure. Because you're part wolf, you might not be able to bark," finished Roman trying to break the news delicately to Dean.

Dean cringed at Roman's words and looked even more miserable.

"But I know for certain that you will be able to howl beautifully," barked Roman quickly trying to console the wolfie.

"Howl?" asked Dean cocking his head at Roman.

"Yes, howling," nodded Roman, "in fact, between you and me, it's much better than barking. Howling can strike fear into the hearts of your enemies even from a great distance. Plus, I've always thought it's a better sound than barking."

"Teach me! Teach me!" yapped Dean springing up onto all fours, his ears starting to perk up.

"Well," Roman wasn't quite sure how to put this, "I can't because I don't howl, Dean."

Dean's good mood vanished as quickly as it had come at Roman's confession.

"But," barked Roman trying not to discourage the pup, "what I do know is that howling is instinctive. When the time comes, you'll know what to do. A husky explained it to me once that it comes from deep within you. It's a feeling that rises inside of you and you know that it needs to be let out. Am I making any sense?"

"No." yipped Dean as he sat back on his haunches, but Roman could tell that Dean was thinking about Roman's words to him.

"Just because you can't bark, Dean doesn't mean you're a failure," said Roman as he leaned forward to lick the pup again, "Those cats should never have laughed at you. What they did was cruel and mean."

"They wanted to kill me, Ro," whimpered Dean as he leaned into the older dog's touch.

"But they didn't, Dean," whispered Roman soothingly as he brought the puppy closer into himself, "you survived. Seth dealt with them and he and I will do our best to make sure something like that never happens again to you."

"Can you promise it won't happen again?" whispered Dean to Roman.

"No, Dean, I can't promise," Roman muttered, "but, remember, Dean, you won't be this little for much longer. Pretty soon, you'll be bigger than Seth and then in a couple more months, you'll be bigger than me. I will teach you how to protect yourself and one day you might even need to protect Seth and myself from other animals. You will be a force to be reckoned with Dean."

Dean perked up a little bit at Roman's words. He tried to imagine him being bigger than Roman, right now to the little pup, that idea sounded sort of ridiculous.

"Promise me one thing though, Dean," breathed Roman.

"What?" mumbled the puppy, his eyes beginning to grow heavy.

"That you will never pick on another animal for sport like Punk and his gang did with you. There will be times in your life where you will need to hunt, but killing another creature just for fun is wrong. Promise me you will never do that, Dean," barked Roman firmly.

"I promise," yipped Dean solemnly.

"Good boy," muttered Roman as he laid his head down and the two dogs drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>"Ahhwhooooo…Ahhhwoooooo…Ahwhhoooooo…"<p>

The next night both Roman and Seth were startled awake by that sound.

"What in cat's name is going on?" meowed Seth sleepily as he rose his head up from the doggie bed that he and Roman were sharing tonight because it was cold.

"Ahhwhoooohoooo…"

"Shh," gruffed Roman to Seth, "It's Dean. Look at him."

Seth blinked a couple times to clear his eyes and turned around to see what Roman was looking at. It was a full moon tonight and it could be seen from the bay window in the living room. Dean was sitting directly in front of the window, staring at the moon with a far off look in his eyes and was howling in his little, puppy voice. Granted these howls weren't as powerful or loud as a full grown wolf or husky's would be, but they were unmistakingly howls and for such a young wolfie, they were pretty good.

"That's nice," mumbled Seth not really getting the importance of this moment for Dean, "now make him stop, Roman, so I can get back to sleep."

"I most certainly will not and neither will you," barked Roman quietly at Seth. "This is an important step for Dean in his development and we will not hinder it for him by telling him to be quiet. He'll get enough of that from our master to be sure. Besides he needs to howl, so let him be."

"Ah, fine," hissed Seth as he put his paws over his ears, "I guess I'll just need to invest in some good earplugs."

"I find it soothing," remarked Roman as he smiled at Dean who was still howling away and had not even noticed that he had woken Roman and Seth up from their slumber.

**Thanks for reading. Please leave a review if the mood strikes you :)**


	8. Snow Day

Snow Day

"It's snowing! It's snowing, Seth!" barked Roman as he wagged his tail furiously, jumping onto the couch and looking back and forth between the winter wonderland outside and the sleepy cat who was lounging near the radiator.

"Congratulations," murmured Seth sarcastically.

"Master! It's snowing! Come on, let's go outside!" barked Roman as he sped up the stairs jumped on Christian who was still sleeping and then ran back down the stairs to look out the window again. Roman couldn't help himself. He loved snow.

"Alright, Roman, I'm up, I'm up," said Christian sleepily as he rubbed his eyes and staggered down the stairs to get his morning coffee. "Oh, it's snowing," he remarked as he shivered and turned on the coffeepot. "That's why you're all worked up," he said as he rubbed the top of Roman's head affectionately as he ran up to his master and looked up pleadingly at him.

Christian laughed softly. The big dog rarely ever got so worked up but when he did it was an adorable sight to behold. "Just let me get some coffee and food in my belly then we'll go outside," promised their owner as he let out a big yawn.

"Why Ro happy, S…Seth?" mumbled Dean sleepily as he staggered out of his doggie bed still half-asleep.

Seth meowed frustratingly as he began to stretch out his back. Since, Dean was now up, Seth knew he would not be able to go back to sleep anytime soon. Seth, however, was happy to hear that Dean's s's were improving remarkably well. "It's nothing special," Seth started to explain to the wolfie, "Roman, being the simple-minded dog that he is, loves the snow."

"Who are you calling simple-minded? You pompous squirt," barked Roman playfully as he jumped on Seth.

Seth meowed in surprise, "Roman! Get off of me you big lug! Don't you dare lick me…ACHCHHH!" Seth screeched as Roman did indeed lick him again.

Dean put his little head down and rubbed his eyes with his front paws trying to get the sleepies out of them. "What's snow?" inquired the pup as he lifted his head to witness an unhappy Seth being pinned by an exuberant Roman.

"It's just about the most wonderful thing in the world!" barked Roman as he panted happily with his big tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. "It's soft and fluffy and just plain wonderful," reiterated Roman as he flopped over onto his back and let out a deep sigh of contentment.

Seth shook his fur out furiously, murmuring under his breath about crazy dogs and the weather.

"Ok, boy," said Christian coming out of the kitchen having gotten some caffeine and sustenance, "Let me change and then we'll go outside."

"Yeah! Hurry, hurry, hurry," barked Roman loudly as he ran around in happy circles.

"For goodness sake, Roman, the snow is not going to melt anytime soon," meowed Seth as he ducked out of Roman's way and made sure that Dean wasn't hit by Roman's flailing tail.

"Do I have to go outside, Seth?" asked Dean in a small voice as he peered up with big eyes at Seth.

Seth opened his mouth to meow that Dean didn't have to go out if he didn't want to but stopped himself at the last minute and thought. While, Seth didn't really want to go outside at the moment both because he liked the warmth and detested getting his paws wet, he realized that Dean hadn't gone outside since the incident with Punk and his gang three days ago._ Our owner will be outside with us, he always keeps a watchful eye on our whereabouts_, thought Seth as he carefully weighed the options, _and the snow can be fun, I guess._

"Actually, I think we should all go out and enjoy the snow," meowed Seth to Dean, trying to make it sound really fun, much to Roman's surprise who actually stopped his happy dancing while his mouth fell open at Seth's words. Roman had never heard Seth speak of snow with that much enthusiasm. It was a genuine miracle.

"Really?!" asked Roman not sure if he had heard Seth correctly.

"Yes, fresh air is good for a growing pup," sniffed Seth.

"Oh, yes! Dean, this is your first snow day!" exclaimed Roman just realizing that, oblivious to Dean's anxiety about going outside. "You'll love it! Come on, master! What are you doing up there?!" barked Roman growing impatient as he ran up to the front door and began to scratch the paneling and whine.

"Honestly, Roman, do you have no shame?!" asked Seth incredulously, "You are setting a bad example for the puppy!"

Roman pretended not to have heard Seth and continued to bark at his master while pawing at the front door.

Seth turned to Dean who was trying his best to remain calm but despite his best efforts his bottom lip was quivering and his breathing was shallower than normal.

"You should go outside, Dean," meowed Seth gently as he licked the top of the pup's head. "I think you will like it. Plus Roman, our master and I will be right outside with you. Nothing bad will happen."

"O..ok," trembled Dean. Although the puppy was terrified, there was also a small part of him that was curious about this mysterious substance called, 'snow' especially with the way Roman was acting.

"You're such a brave puppy, Dean," meowed Seth approvingly as he bumped his head affectionately with Dean's.

"Alrighty then, is everyone ready?" asked Christian of his three pets as he came downstairs decked out in snow gear.

"I've been ready, forever!" barked Roman exaggerating the situation as he jumped up and down.

"Ok, relax, Roman!" said Christian authoritatively as Roman started to jump on him. At Christian's tone, Roman immediately stopped jumping and sheepishly stared down at the floor as he waited patiently for his master to open the door. Roman knew he had taken his exuberance a little too far but it was so hard for him to control himself when it came to snow.

As soon as Christian opened the door. Roman bounded out into snow heaven. It had just recently stopped snowing and about eight inches had accumulated overnight. Christian gave a little sigh at the amount of shoveling that lay before him but got right to, first quickly shoveling the front stoop so that Dean and Seth could get out of the house.

"Come on, pup, let's go exploring," meowed Seth encouragingly as he stepped out of the house and looked back to make sure Dean was following him.

Dean took a second to stare at the strange sight. Everything looked different but they hadn't gone anywhere. They had stayed in the house. Dean cocked his head this was weird. But Roman seemed to love it. He was running around, kicking up the white stuff and trying to catch it with his mouth.

Dean took a few cautious steps down to the ground and joined Seth who was sniffing around the bushes that were planted close to the house. As Dean's paw hit the snow, he let out a yelp and drew back.

"It's cold!" yipped Dean as he looked at Seth.

Seth laughed, "Well, what did you expect pup? Snow only comes when it's really cold because snow is cold."

"Why?" asked Dean curiously.

"I don't know it just does," said Seth shrugging his shoulders.

Dean stared at the spot where he had put his paw. There was an outline of his paw in the snow. "That's so cool," yapped Dean as he sniffed it.

"Dean!" barked Roman, "Try running in the snow, it's so much fun!"

"Ok," yipped Dean back as he ran on his stubby legs around the first bush. Dean quickly realized that Roman was right. The combination of the fluffy snow, the cold air and the sensation of the crunchy snow were perfect. Dean had never experienced anything quite like it in all his four weeks of life.

Dean grew bolder and began to run a little bit towards Roman but when he tried to go further, he sunk deeper into the snow and all of a sudden, he couldn't see anything except a white wall. Dean whined as he turned around to go back but faced another white wall. Dean quickly began to panic.

"Help! Help! Seth! Please! Anybody! HELP!" yipped Dean as he stood on his hind legs and tried to see over the white wall but couldn't.

"What have you gotten yourself into, little guy?" asked Christian bemusedly as he came into Dean's view and scooped the puppy up into his arms. "You're probably a little too young still for running around in the snow," said Christian as he cradled Dean in his arms.

Dean steadied his breathing, as he felt safe in his owner's arms. Secretly, Dean was glad that he had gone outside but now he had enough for the day and wanted to go back inside. Thankfully, Christian seemed to read his mind.

"Do you want to go inside, Dean and snuggle while these two idiots have fun out here?" asked Christian.

Dean gave a happy, little yip at this plan and Christian obliged. The front yard had a gate so Roman and Seth could be outside by themselves for a while.

Dean sighed as they entered the warm house. Christian gently put Dean down so that he could get his snow gear off. Dean waited patiently, choosing to shadow his master's every move from putting his clothes away and then into the kitchen so that he could make himself a cup of tea. Finally, Dean's patience was rewarded as master and puppy snuggled together on the couch with a quilt, cup of tea and a good book.

**I love snow!**

**Hope you liked :) Please review if you have the time.**


	9. Little Rascal

Little Rascal

_Cling. Clank. Cling. Clank._

Seth blearily opened his eyes and lifted his head slightly towards the sound. He felt awful and it was his own damn fault. He knew that. He owned up to it but it still didn't stop the nausea that consumed him since late last night.

In a rush to get back to work in order to perform emergency surgery on a guinea pig, Christian had left a half of stick of butter on the counter top. Seth for some reason, which even he did not know, loved butter.

Seth loved the smell. He adored the way it tasted when he licked it. To him it was like almost eating cream, except it wasn't. It was butter and without fail every time Seth ate even a little bit he got sick.

Roman had tried to reason with him last night. The dog had barked at Seth furiously from the kitchen floor, glaring up at him for his poor choices and warning the cat that he would regret eating the butter. But Seth, in the moment, hadn't cared.

_I wish I had cared_, the cat thought to himself. Seth moaned as his stomach seemed to twist and clench in pain.

_Cling. Clank. Cling. Clank._

Seth didn't have to wonder long about what that sound was. Dean came plodding into the living room with one of Christian's belts firmly in his tiny mouth. The sound was coming from the metal attached to the end of the belt as Dean dragged it along the floor.

_Ohh, that pup is going to be in trouble_, thought Seth as he realized that Dean had one of Christian's favorite belts and was the one he often wore to work. Seth didn't have the energy though to tell Dean that with his stomach still rebelling so he opted to just lay there and witness what would happen. He knew from experience that Christian would not be pleased if Dean made him late for work.

Dean clearly had a plan though Seth also realized as the sly puppy put down the belt and looked towards the direction of the master bedroom with a mischievous smirk on his face. Then, wasting little time, Dean scooted backwards, getting his little butt first under the couch and then grabbed the belt again with his mouth. Once he had the belt again, Dean slowly scooted back further and further under the couch until both him and the belt were out of sight.

Seth moaned as his head started to pound again. He wondered vaguely if he was going to vomit so more when he heard Dean start to chew on the belt. Seth's eyes snapped opened and looked anxiously towards the couch. Master was not going to be pleased with Dean at all. Just as Seth began to open his mouth to warn Dean against chewing the belt further, a furious yell from upstairs startled him.

"Dean! What did you do to my belt?!" Christian said in a raised voice coming down the steps, obviously in a hurry, his hair still wet from his morning shower.

Seth heard a few stifled giggles coming from underneath the couch but Christian hadn't heard the puppy as he went looking in the kitchen and the dining room first.

Seth groaned. Dean still hadn't learned to tell the difference between when his owner was playing or when he was upset, but he was going to if the look on Christian's face was any indication.

"Dean!" Christian said again in his no nonsense tone as he entered the living room with hawk-like eyes. Dean giggled again and this time Christian heard it. Without missing a beat, their owner got down on his knees and peered under the couch at the little puppy who was wagging his tail and held the belt in his teeth waiting for Christian to make the first move.

"There you are, you little rascal," stated Christian as he started to put one of his arms under the couch in order to grab the belt from the naughty pup, "Now, drop it."

"Nope!" yapped Dean happily as he scooted away from Christian's reach taking the belt with him.

"Dean," said Christian starting to become irritated, "Drop the belt, now!"

"Nope, you were gone all last night," yapped the puppy trying to make his owner understand that he just wanted to spend more time with him, "I couldn't cuddle with you last night so we play now!"

Christian reached for the belt and for a second time it was placed just beyond his grasp as Dean darted away playfully not realizing that his owner was in no mood for games. "Dean! I will not say it again! Come out from under there!" said Christian not shouting but getting close to it.

Seth whined and clutched his ears in pain as the loud voice of his owner and the puppy's yaps were hurting his head.

"Make me!" yapped Dean rebelliously as he danced back and forth underneath the couch dragging the belt with him.

"That's it! You're in big trouble," promised Christian as he got up and physically moved the couch so that he could get to Dean.

Dean, who had never seen his owner move the couch before, was startled as all of a sudden the huge object moved over his head and he was plucked from behind by Christian who also grabbed the belt with the other hand.

"You got me!" yapped Dean as he twisted his little head trying to lick his owner's face but Christian was in a foul mood especially when he saw the state of his favorite belt.

"You little deviant," said Christian sternly as he glared at Dean letting the puppy feel his displeasure.

"Wait…what did I do?" yipped Dean confused as he looked up at his owner with wide eyes. He had thought they were playing. Dean wanted to play. Didn't his owner want to as well?

"You are in time out," said Christian as he made his way over to the cage in the kitchen that he hadn't utilized yet with Dean until now. Christian opened up the door, put Dean in it and swiftly closed the door shut. "You will stay in there until I'm done getting ready for work so you can't get up to any more mischief," said Christian as he walked away sighing at the state of his belt. He had really liked that belt and now it was ruined.

Of course, Dean hadn't understood what Christian had said so he didn't know why he was in the cage or for how long he would be in there. Dean decided after two seconds that he didn't like this place. He couldn't go anywhere. He couldn't see anyone right now. His owner was upstairs, Seth was in the living room and Roman was outside. Plus he couldn't get to his food or water dish! Dean whimpered, he didn't like being alone.

Dean tentatively put his paw on the door and pushed on it. It wouldn't give. Dean then tried a different technique. He tried pawing on the door like he had seen Roman do to the front door. It still wouldn't budge. Dean plopped down on his hind legs.

"I don't like!" yapped Dean trying to get someone's attention. No one responded. "Get me out!" Dean yapped again but not a soul came into the kitchen. "I don't like! I don't LIKE!" yapped Dean as loud as he could. The wolfie's bottom lip began to tremble as he realized that no one was getting him out.

"NO!" Dean cried banging on the door to the cage, "Don't leave me in here! 'M sorry! S..ssorry!" sobbed the pup, his s's getting worse as he became distressed. Dean's chest heaved as he cried some more. He was only in there for a few minutes, but for Dean it felt like a lifetime. By the time, Christian came back into the kitchen all ready to go to work, Dean was a blubbering mess.

Christian gazed with sympathy at the little puppy who was whimpering and crying at being in the cage. His anger had cooled and he had supposed he was partly to blame for his belt getting ruined by leaving it on the floor for the young puppy to come and get. "Okay, little guy, I'm getting you out," said Christian in his soothing voice as he opened the door and the little pup went running into his lap.

"I'm sssorry, ssorry," cried Dean as he trembled on Christian's lap as his owner stroked his back, "I just don't want you to go. Don't go."

"It's okay, you're fine," said Christian as he placed Dean down on the ground and stood up. "Be good, I'm going to work now." 'Work' was one of the few words Dean understood.

"No!" yapped Dean jumping up on his owner's leg and trying to get him to pick him up again. "You were just there! Don't go! I don't want you to go!"

"Come on, Dean, don't make a fuss," chided Christian as he gently shooed the puppy off of him and then skillfully opened the door quickly and shut it behind him before the pup could come after him.

Dean furiously scratched and pawed at the front door trying through sheer force of will for his owner to come back but he didn't. "No! Not fair! Come back! Want to play!" yapped Dean. The pup stood in front of the door for a solid ten minutes whimpering, whining and crying but his owner still hadn't come back.

"DEAN!" Seth's pained meow startled the puppy out of his misery as he gazed at the cat who was still moaning in pain due to his overindulgence with butter. "Just come over here and you can cuddle with me," meowed the cat in a faint whisper.

Dean became concerned with Seth's weak voice and plodded over to the cat silently as he studied him with a crooked glance.

"This is why Ro said that you shouldn't have butter. Right, Seth?" yipped Dean in an innocent voice.

"Let's leave Roman out of this right now," breathed Seth as he closed his eyes and motioned for Dean to come lie down next to him. "The last thing I need is a lecture from him about my failings."

"Okay," huffed Dean as he plopped down next to the cat, "I'm going to dream of belts, Seth," proclaimed Dean in his sleepy voice as he closed his eyes and settled down for a nap.

"Dream on, little one," said Seth smiling at the pup fondly, "Dream on and perhaps one day you will get your wish."

**I'm not sure if what Christian did is the proper way to discipline a puppy, so just take the story for what it is, a little fictional story and please forgive any mistakes of actual puppy training on my part.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing :)**


	10. Shots!

Shots!

"I can't believe it's snowing again," proclaimed Christian as he quickly entered his house followed by his best friend, Edge.

"Winter's not done yet I guess," said Edge good naturedly as both men stomped their snow caked boots on the front mat and proceeded to talk off all their outer layers. "Man, it's been a long time since I've been to your house," remarked Edge as his sharp eyes noticed a few changes that Christian had made to his home.

"Well we've both been busy with work, plus I got a new puppy a little over a month ago," said Christian as he put his work bag on the kitchen table and went to put on some hot water for tea.

"You got any coffee?" asked Edge as he joined Christian in the kitchen and blew on both of his hands to warm them up.

"I thought you were trying to lay off of your caffeine intake," said Christian as he raised his eyebrows at his best friend who grinned sheepishly.

"I'll start that resolution tomorrow," said Edge as he sat down at the kitchen table and started to take off his heavy boots.

"It's almost March, dude," said Christian shaking his head at his ridiculous friend as he got two mugs out and put two identical tea bags in them, "I'm making an executive decision here and I've decided to help you with your New Year's resolution whether you want me to or not."

"What?!" exclaimed Edge in the middle of tugging off his second boot and looking at his smug friend with alarm, "Come on, man, I really need some coffee."

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon!" said Christian gesturing to the clock on his microwave.

"So?" asked Edge failing to see his friend's point.

"You don't need coffee, you just want some, there's a difference," said Christian as he picked up the steaming kettle and poured it into the two mugs, filling both to the brim. "Besides, I think you'll really like this tea, it's orange and pumpkin spice."

"What I would really like is some coffee," grumbled Edge as he grudgingly accepted the mug his supposedly best friend handed him and took a tentative sip. It was pretty good and warmed him up right away but he wasn't about to verbally acknowledge that Christian had been right. "So why are we stopping at your house, again? I thought we were going to the hockey game," said Edge as he contently sipped his tea.

"I need to give Dean his first round of shots and I need you to help me hold him," explained Christian as he placed some chocolate chip scones that he had made last night on the table in front of his friend and sat back down, "Plus the game doesn't start for another two hours, dude. We've got plenty of time."

"Who's that, Seth?" yipped Dean as he walked down the steps having woken up from his nap when he heard his master walk through the front door, peered into the kitchen and noticed that there was a second human in the room.

Seth scoffed and licked his front paws disinterestedly.

"Edge!" barked Roman happily as he came down the steps behind Dean and walked up quickly to the second human and began to sniff him immediately.

"Hey there, Roman," greeted Edge just as happily as Roman and rubbed the big dog behind his ears, "I've missed you, big guy."

"You smell interesting, like always," barked Roman as he licked Edge's hand in thanks for giving his head a rub. "Hints of baloney, mixed with greasy hot dog, a strong blend of marinara sauce and a dash of mustard. Delicious!"

"In other words, he's a walking refuse pile," stated Seth smarmily as he watched the exchange between Roman and Edge. "That's Edge, our master's human best friend," explained Seth finally answering Dean's question, "Although why he chose that one to be his closest human companion is beyond me," meowed Seth superiorly wrinkling his nose at Edge, "if you ask me, our master could do a lot better."

"Hey there, Seth," said Edge warily as he eyed the cat who slinked into the kitchen, "You better not scratch me again."

"I make no promises," meowed the cat smugly as he bypassed Edge and instead rubbed against Christian's leg and looked up at him innocently.

"Since when has Seth ever scratched you?" asked Christian not believing his friend as he rubbed Seth behind the ears as the cat continued to rub up against his leg.

"When has he not?!" said Edge dramatically as he stared down at Seth who gave him the evil eye, "That little stinker scratches me without fail every time I come over to your house."

"Not my fault you deserved it," meowed Seth as he leapt up onto Christian's lap and curled up in it.

"I think you're exaggerating as usual," remarked Christian as he petted Seth who had spread himself out on his lap.

"Whatever," waved Edge as he rolled his eyes at Christian's willingness to believe his evil cat over his best friend. "So, this is the little guy you were talking about," said Edge as he spotted Dean hovering just outside the doorway to the kitchen.

"Yep, that's Dean," smiled Christian as he gazed at the little puppy who seemed torn and couldn't decide whether to come into the kitchen or keep his distance.

"He's a handsome, little pup, isn't he?" remarked Edge as he got down from his chair onto his knees and looked at Dean who had taken a couple steps back as Edge had moved from his chair. "Come here, Dean, I'm not gonna hurt ya," said Edge soothingly as he inched forward towards the puppy.

Dean was curious as this mysterious human came closer and cocked his head at him.

"He smells different than master," yapped Dean as he cautiously sniffed the human who came even closer towards him.

"Yay, he smells yummy," barked Roman from his position under the kitchen table looking for crumbs.

"He's not worth your time, pup," quipped Seth having now exposed his belly to Christian so that he could rub it. Dean disagreed with Seth, Edge seemed and smelled nice. Plus, Dean, in his short existence, had already figured out that Seth only liked him and Roman and tolerated Christian.

"Hey, Dean," greeted Edge as he gathered up the puppy in his arms and gently stroked his back. Dean lazily settled into Edge's arms. He loved the sweatshirt Edge wore, it was warm and smelled vaguely of potato chips.

"Well, since you're already holding him," said Christian as he put Seth on the floor and stood up rifling through his work bag and pulling out a black case, "Let's get this over with and give him his shots."

Roman and Seth exchanged a worried glance as they recognized the black case. They knew what was coming and they weren't sure how Dean was going to react.

"Bring him over here," directed Christian as he pulled two needles out from the case and prepped them.

Edge, while still stroking a contented Dean in his arms, stood up and walked over to Christian who was already ready with the first shot, not wanting to prolong this unnecessarily.

"Hold him down firmly," reminded Christian as he grabbed a handful of Dean's skin.

"Wait what's going on?" yipped Dean as Edge all of a sudden held him in a firm grip that didn't allow him to move much at all and his master pinched his skin in his upper back and then…pain!

"OWWW!" yelped Dean as he tried to struggle furiously in Edge's grip.

"There, there little guy, we're halfway done," murmured Christian as he rubbed Dean's back where he had just pushed the needle into the little puppy and reached for the second needle.

"Put me down! Put me down!" yipped Dean as he squirmed with all his might, "Don't like! Ow, ow, ow , ow, ow, ow!

"Almost done," promised Christian as he skillfully pricked Dean a second time and rubbed his back again. "There we are! Your first shots are done!" said Christian encouragingly as he put the needle down and then took the shaking pup from Edge's arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know," said Christian soothingly as he held the puppy tight and petted him softly, "It's okay, you're alright now, you have to get shots if you want to stay healthy."

"It hurts," whimpered Dean as he nuzzled into his master's arms, "It still hurts. Make it not hurt."

"Shhhh," whispered Christian into the pup's ear, "Calm down. It's okay. You've been such a good boy."

"We should probably get going soon," said Edge as he sat back down at the kitchen table and grabbed another scone, "we might hit traffic."

"In a minute. Hold your horses," said Christian still trying to calm Dean down, "Dean needs me right now."

Edge scoffed, "He's an animal, Christian, it's not like he has feelings…OWWW!" howled Edge quickly standing up and knocking over his chair as Seth had just swooped out of nowhere and scratched him on the hand.

"That's for helping to hurt, Dean," hissed Seth at Edge.

"Do you see this?!" yelled Edge at Christian as he held out his bleeding hand. "Every time I come over he does this! Every time!

**Happy Friday!**

**Hope you liked this one :) Please review :)**


	11. The Hunger Pains

The Hunger Pains

After Dean had calmed down a bit from being traumatized by his first shots, Christian wrapped the woozy puppy in a fluffy blanket and put him on the couch. Dean dozed off by the time Christian and Edge left for the hockey game, leaving Roman and Seth to watch over the pup.

"Do you think he's going to wake up before our master gets home?" asked Roman of Seth as they both watched over a sleeping Dean.

"I hope not," meowed Seth quietly as he groomed himself, "Because I'm betting that when he wakes up, he's not going to be a happy camper."

"Yeah I hate how those things make you feel afterward," shuddered Roman as he remembered the last time he had gotten shots, "you feel sleepy, hungry and cranky all at the same time and then you don't know which need you want to fulfill."

"Precisely," meowed Seth as he watched the small stomach of Dean rise and fall in a steady rhythm signaling that he was dead to the world, "and I'm not in the mood right now to deal with a cranky puppy."

"No one is ever in the mood for a cranky puppy," barked Roman as he rolled his eyes at the selfish cat, "but sometimes you just need to deal with it whether you're in the mood or not."

"All I'm saying is that you better not abandon me to deal with Dean by myself while you meander upstairs to take a nap or something of that nature," meowed Seth as he accurately described what the big dog did sometimes to avoid Dean and his cranky mood swings.

"I won't," barked Roman as he stared at the floor, knowing that on this count, Seth was right, "We'll do it as a team, right?"

"Fine, as a team," agreed Seth.

It was at this moment then that Dean awoke all of a sudden from his nap. The puppy whimpered as he rubbed his eyes and didn't immediately sense anyone close by.

"Hey little buddy," barked Roman rushing to the puppy's side as he licked his face once, "Seth and I are right here."

"Sore, so sore, Ro," whimpered Dean again as every movement caused his sore little body to ache.

"Yeah, you're going to feel that way for a little bit," admitted Roman as he nuzzled the puppy softly with his nose.

"Where's Mama? I want Mama!" cried Dean reverting to calling Seth 'Mama' which he did whenever he was really upset.

"Right here, Dean," meowed Seth comfortingly as he gracefully leapt onto the couch and joined the puppy inside the comfy blanket, "What's the matter?"

The puppy's breath hitched as he tried to stop crying so that he could communicate what he wanted, "I want…Mama…hungie! I'm hungie!" yipped Dean finally as he pressed his little body as close to Seth as possible.

_Oh shoot!_ Thought Seth frantically as he realized that their master hadn't left any food out for Dean. Just this past week, Christian had started to begin weaning Dean off of milk and had been giving him dry food that was softened. Sometimes, he knew he'd be gone from the house for a time, Christian would leave out a plate of softened food for the puppy but today it must have slipped his mind.

"Why don't you go back to sleep, Dean?" meowed Seth as he licked the top of the wolfie's head. "Then you can eat something when you wake up."

"No, hungie now!" protested Dean as he swung his head back and forth to reiterate his point, almost head butting Seth in the process.

"Dean," meowed Seth as he nearly avoided getting hit by a flailing, cranky puppy, "Cut it out. I'm sorry, I don't have any food for you."

"Belly hungie!" cried Dean as he rolled onto his back with all four legs curled onto his stomach, which was, to Dean's credit, actually making noises. "Want food now!"

"Too bad you can't make milk, right Seth?" barked Roman as he tried to calm Dean down as well but only succeeded in making him cry louder.

Seth opened his mouth to make a snide comment back at the older dog but stopped when an idea suddenly came to the cat's mind.

"What are you thinking, Seth?" asked Roman warily as he was very familiar with that look on Seth's face, the look that always spelled trouble.

"I'm thinking of a way in which we can get this puppy some food," meowed Seth as he looked into the kitchen and back at Roman, "and you're going to help me."

"Hungie! Hungie!" cried Dean in between sobs as Seth licked his face again.

"Calm down, Dean. Roman and I are going to get you some food. Hang in there," meowed Seth as he tucked the blanket around the small pup and leapt from the couch and headed into the kitchen with Roman right behind him.

"So…what's your brilliant plan then?" asked Roman as he joined Seth in the kitchen as the cat stared up at the refrigerator.

"First, we'll need to find a way to open the white box," explained Seth as he gestured to the giant appliance.

"I've done that before, it's not that hard," barked Roman proudly as he walked up to the refrigerator and after a few prods, tugs and bites managed to get the heavy door to swing open.

"Excellent," meowed Seth as he moved forward into the refrigerator and peered around looking for the container that housed the creamy deliciousness that was milk. "Ahh, there it is!" exclaimed Seth as he finally spied the blue and white rectangular box but was dismayed to find that it was placed on the highest shelf.

"Where?" barked Roman.

"All the way up there," pointed out Seth as he let out a huff trying to think how he was going to get up and down from there.

"Are you sure? How do you know that's the one?" asked Roman as he spotted other containers that looked very similar to that one.

"Because I'm observant," quipped Seth, "and when master eats his cereal he always uses this one. I'm sure of it."

"How are you going to get up there?" asked Roman as he cocked his head at the milk that looked way out of reach.

"By standing on your shoulders," meowed Seth coming up with an idea, "move up a bit and stand right there, Roman," directed the cat as he pushed the dog to where he wanted him to be.

"Just please don't scratch me, Seth," whined Roman as he felt the cat leap onto his back.

"I'll try not to," promised Seth as he cautiously made his way across the dog's back and stood on his shoulders, "Okay, Roman, you're going to have to lift your shoulders a bit higher, perhaps you should stand on the white step," indicated Seth as he calculated the distance between the milk and Roman's shoulders.

Roman grunted as he carried out Seth's command and pushed the cat even higher towards the shelf.

"Good," meowed Seth as he took aim and then leapt expertly onto the fridge's top shelf, crashing into the orange juice in the process.

"You okay, Seth?" barked Roman as Seth went out of his line of sight and all the dog heard was a spectacular crash.

"I'll live," meowed Seth in pain as he shakily rose to his feet and headed over to the milk.

"Well now what?" questioned Roman as both him and Seth came to the same conclusion. How were they going to open and get the container down from the fridge?

"I suppose there is only one way for it," meowed Seth as he looked down at Roman, "Back away, Ro."

The big dog took several hesitating steps back and waited. All of a sudden, the container of milk came crashing down from the top shelf and splattered all over the kitchen floor causing the milk to spill everywhere.

"Awesome!" barked Roman at Seth's success and ran into the living room to get the puppy so that he could finally eat something.

_Seth to the rescue_, thought the cat smugly as he licked his front paws in triumph. Seth's smugness though faded instantly as he realized that the dog had run out of the kitchen and now Seth was faced with the long journey of getting down to the floor on his own.

_Darn it! _Seth looked down at the floor. It was a long way down._ Better just go for it before Roman gets back and sees me quaking with fear or I'll never hear the end of it_, thought Seth as he took a deep breath and jumped down. _OWWWW! Ow, ow, ow_, hissed Seth as he hit the floor jarringly and pain quickly spread throughout his body. Seth knew he would live, but it still hurt regardless. _Dean better be grateful for all that I do for him_, thought the cat as he shook his paws out and the excess milk off of his fur.

Roman came back into the kitchen looking sheepishly at Seth.

"Well, where's the puppy?" asked Seth as he limped around the kitchen trying to get feeling back into his paws.

"I didn't want to wake him," barked Roman hesitatingly.

"What?!" hissed Seth sort of pissed that the puppy was now sleeping although that was probably what he needed right now more than anything,

"Yep," barked Roman looking around at all of the spilled milk, "He looks so adorable when he's sleeping, I didn't want to disturb him."

Seth just let out a deep breath and hung his head in defeat. "Why do I even bother?" meowed Seth bitterly as Roman began to laugh at the entire situation.

**Hump Day! Hoping that this story brings a smile to your face :)**

**Love ya all! Please read and review.**


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